As if We Never Said Goodbye
by TinyBlackcurrant
Summary: You hadn't seen her in months. You thought you'd moved on with your life. New York was the perfect place for you, but your dreams had been built with her in mind, whether you knew it or not. So, really, it was inevitable that you would see her again in New York. Suddenly, the cold winter seemed much more appealing because you got to share at least one moment of it with her.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm counting this as my second Brittana fic. This is set in the winter of 2013, to clear up any confusion beforehand. **

You fumbled with the zip on the pocket of your coat, struggling to open it with your numb fingers. You shivered from the cold and then spotted a homeless girl opposite you, huddled down into her threadbare duffel coat and quivering in her seat, and you internally congratulated yourself on your wise decision to invest in a Superdry coat before you left for the bright lights of New York City. It was seventy dollars well spent.

You were wary about taking the Subway ever since your first week in New York and the incident with the homeless man came up, but ever since you'd started carrying pepper spray and you'd gotten some tips from a self-defence instructor who ran a class in the building opposite the bar that you worked in, you'd felt a little safer.

You had no idea that you would come across Rory again, but you were oddly glad when you did. He was something familiar, someone to make fun of who was struggling to find his way in New York just as much as you were. But his dad let you bartend for a tidy wage seven days a week and it helped you out a lot with the rent you paid.

The bar was nothing special, but it wasn't awful.

For a while, you were almost distracted enough to forget about her. You never spoke of her, and your roommates had the sense not to either. It was a sensitive subject for you, and you didn't want to cause yourself more heartache than necessary.

She wasn't worth your tears. She chose _him_. You had to accept that and move on. Find someone as hot and awesome as you were.

But, deep down, you knew she was worth it. She was worth every tear you could cry, every strange look when you held her hand or kissed her in public, and every bit of abuse you could have hurled at you. When she held you tightly, cradled you tenderly in her arms, you felt as if you were wrapped in a blanket by a hot fire on a cold winter's day with the doors and windows locked, listening to the harsh weather hitting the windowpanes while you were shielded from it. It was such a welcome feeling, like sinking into a hot bath after walking for miles in the rain, as if a massive relief had been lifted from your shoulders.

Like in that Greek myth when a Titan held the weight of the sky on his shoulders – being without her felt like you were carrying the weight of the sky on your shoulders.

Thinking about her as much as you did, you'd probably go prematurely grey, too.

You kept yourself guarded, kept your emotions under lock and key. But, once again, every day just felt like a war. You were bottling up your emotions, and someday the lid would pop off and all of those feelings would come flowing out of that bottle.

It happened.

It was going to, anyway, at one point.

You were just glad only Kurt was home. Breaking down in front of Rachel – that would be a new low, even for you – and you didn't even know anything about Kurt's bizarre British boyfriend other than that he came from Essex or something. London, Newcastle, Birmingham, Oxford, or Cambridge – you didn't really care. Why did you know that many places in England? You had always liked to learn in high school, although you were always secretive about it, and your Geography tests were always particularly successful because you could actually tell Africa from Germany on a non-labelled map.

"_I miss her," you blurted out. _

_Kurt smiled knowingly at you. "I know you do," he said. "I should have known from our movie marathon. She did motocross… and I think the rest speaks for itself, doesn't it?" _

_You smiled gratefully at him, and he returned the gesture. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and tucked you into his side in a comforting hug, just as she used to do._

As the subway grinded to a stop, you stood up without grabbing onto a handhold, so you stumbled to one side. The person next to you grumbled a complaint, even though you were nowhere near them, and you resisted the temptation to stick your tongue out like a small child. It was the sort of thing you would have done if you were with her, just to make her giggle and see that sweet smile spread across her features.

You sighed and tugged your Ravenclaw scarf tighter (yes, you liked Harry Potter – does anyone have a problem?) around your neck and pulled your woollen hat down over your ears. You glanced down at your watch and cursed – you were running late and the snow was like a blizzard. You squinted through the awful weather and ducked your head slightly as you jogged through the bustling New York streets.

Kurt met you at the building, standing safely in the porch.

"My God, Santana, did you really choose to wear a Superdry coat, a woollen scarf, and a beanie over a business suit for an interview?" he asked sceptically as you shrugged off your thick coat and stuffed it into the shoulder bag you were using.

"Some of us had to walk through a blizzard to get here, Hummel," you complained. He rolled his eyes and walked off, leaving you to catch up.

He guided you through the corridors of the building, occasionally greeting co-workers as he did so.

* * *

You got the job, much to your delight.

You lost Kurt during your time waiting for him outside of the porch, and you received a text from him after you had been waiting there for an hour that just said, '_Sorry, Santana, I'm going to be leaving work late. U can go back to the loft; Rachel's staying late at NYADA to work on some material for her dance class.'_

You sighed in annoyance and typed a reply. '_Thanks for the notice now that I've spent an hour outside your office roleplaying a snowman.'_

He didn't respond, and probably for the better.

You glanced at your watch and cursed under your breath. It was five O' clock. You brushed off the snow from your shoulders, ducked your head, and walked quickly towards the nearest subway entrance.

* * *

Thank God for the weekends. You, Kurt and Rachel had originally intended to laze around the loft all weekend with mugs of hot chocolate and the Twilight movies (the latter was against your will, although you supposed you got what you deserved for moving in with two Twi-hards) but something came up that meant Finn simply could not move into his college room without help. Rachel jumped at the chance to help him, leaving you and Kurt in the dust. You almost missed Plastic Man in that moment. Almost.

Kurt insisted that you joined him for coffee with Adam, and you accepted because you had nothing better to do and you'd promised to be nicer to Adam.

While you sat in the café, Kurt and Adam jabbered on about Le Misérables and whatever else, and you received a text. Your heart picked up a little when you realised whom the sender was. It was _her_.

You swiped open the text, impatiently tapping in your passcode with fumbling fingers, and drummed your fingers while you waited for the text to open.

'_Rachel told me u got into NYU. Congrats x I've graduated now and I'm in college, so I should be able to visit u soon in NY :)'_

Your heart lurched horribly. _How could you have forgotten about her graduation?_ After you promised her that you would be there to see it last year? You felt like a criminal. You could picture her now, walking onto that stage, scanning the crowd eagerly for your smiling face, and her face falling slightly when she couldn't pick you out from the crowd. Maybe she would at first assume that she just didn't spot you, but the picture of her devastated expression when she realised her best friend, who had never lied to her, had broken a promise, was just too much to bear.

You typed back an honest response. You had never lied to her before. You weren't going to now. '_I'm so sorry, Britt, I can't believe I didn't come to see you graduate. I feel awful, I swear. :( Thanks for the congrats on getting into NYU, though. X'_

You locked your phone and set it down on the table, feeling even worse than you had three seconds ago.

'_It's cool. I'll have to visit u soon in NY. I miss u, S. x'_

You smiled sadly because it was something that only she would do. She had forgiven you for so many things, so many times. What was happening now? Was she _trying_ to kill you?

'_No,'_ you thought sternly. '_She's your best friend, of course she misses you. In the best friend kind of way, not the ex-girlfriend-still-in-love-with kind of way. That's you, idiot.'_

So you replied, typing slowly as though your dejected attitude would pass through the way you typed the simple words. '_Yeah, I miss u too. x'_

Kurt smirked at you. "Lovesick puppy," he teased.

You locked your phone and wiped the little smile off your face. You glowered at him and said, "I still have no ethnical problems with Hummelcide. You know what I've done to people."

He snorted. "If you after the time we lost nationals is anything to go by, then I think I'd rather not take my chances."

Adam looked confused as he looked between you and Kurt. You waved a hand airily at him, and he frowned a little before shrugging it off and sipping his tea.

* * *

Later, you got a message from Tina. '_Do u want to Skype later?'_

'_Yeah, sure. I'm warning you now: Rachel and Kurt might be drunk because she wanted to take him out to a bar to loosen up before his finals next week. I thought that she learned her lesson about alcohol and performing back in the Alcohol Awareness Week disaster, but apparently not.' _

'_I'll take my chances.'_

You yourself were as surprised as anyone was when you started talking to Tina. But after she gave you that phone call a little while ago, you started texting her more often and she replied to you, and it felt nice to be close to someone back in lima that wasn't her or your parents. You Skyped sometimes, and that was that.

You didn't like to label people. You never knew how they would react to you referring to them as your friend, and it was something you were insecure about to that day. You always felt uneasy when your grandmother would ask if you were friends with them if you brought up the name of someone in Glee. It only hurt when they rejected you, because you liked to consider them your friends above anyone else. You didn't care about the idiots on the Cheerios or the football team. The people in Glee had often showed compassion towards you, but they had made you question many things that you thought about yourself. Still, you considered every one of them your friend.

And, no matter what happened, no matter how many strings or feelings were attached, _she _would always be your best friend.

**Brittany will be making her appearance soon. This isn't a story I can finish in under 2000 words. :)**

**Sorry about the earlier mishap with the character list. I was messing around with the functions because I was curious and I thought I'd fixed it, but I apparently hadn't. Sorry about that.**

**Come talk to me on Tumblr. I don't bite, I swear. :) tinyblackcurrant . tumblr . com (with no spaces).**


	2. Chapter 2

**Unbeta'd because I'm really not in the mood. I don't think most of the Brittana fandom are. **

**This story is only a three-shot because I'm working on other stuff. I'll update the final chapter tomorrow.**

* * *

Tina's face was slightly blurred by the quality of her webcam as you sat on the sofa with your laptop perched on the coffee table while Kurt and Rachel wandered drunkenly around the apartment, occasionally bursting into song.

_"It's time to try defying gravity,"_ Kurt sang at the top of his lungs.

_"Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity,"_ Rachel belted out.

"Oh, dear God," you groaned, hiding your face in your hands. Tina chuckled from her end of the webcam, watching the scene in amusement.

"Are either of them stripper drunks?" Tina asked.

"Rachel's quite clingy when she gets drunk, but I don't know about Kurt. I've never seen him get buzzed," You said. "Anyway, congrats on the graduation," you added.

True to your word, Rachel curled up on the couch next to you, took hold of your left arm, and held it tightly to her body.

"Well, I might have trouble writing that essay now," you remarked dryly. Kurt had shut up and was nosing around in the kitchen cupboards, looking for ingredients to muffins. He was mumbling something about blueberry muffins being Adam's favourites and you decided you would intervene before he got anywhere near the oven in his drunken state. Tina kept half an eye on him while you tried to wriggle your way out of Rachel's grip. It was proving difficult, as Rachel was clinging tightly and rambling about how awesome she was.

"I wish I could video this," Tina remarked. "Thanks, Santana, I've been in Harvard for a few months now. It's good there," she added in response to your comment about her graduation.

"So, what did you want to tell me that required this emergency video call?" You asked, still trying to pry Rachel off your arm.

"Sam and Brittany broke up," Tina said quietly, not looking at you.

You paused. "What?" you asked sharply.

"Sam and Brittany broke up," Tina repeated, louder this time.

"Why?" you demanded, ignoring Rachel for a minute.

Tina took a deep breath. "I don't know whether they were drunk. It was at the beginning of the after-party and Blaine suggested that we have a karaoke. It was just us Glee kids, by the way. Well, Sam chose Love Story by Taylor Swift and he dedicated it to Brittany. Do you know the song?" You nodded in response. "Well, the part of the song that said, 'Marry me, Juliet,' he got down on one knee to Brittany and sang the rest of the song from there."

You groaned, tilting your head back until it rested on the back of the sofa.

"Well, once the music had finished, Brittany was smiling because she thought it was just him being dramatic and that they weren't ready to get married. But he asked her to marry him, and that smile faded. She said no," Tina said. "She left the room, leaving Sam embarrassed, and he went after her. We didn't listen to them, deciding that they needed their privacy, and Brittany was the only one that came back. She said Sam had gone home, but said nothing else. Blaine went back to the Hudson-Hummel household to find Sam, and he texted me to say that Sam was fine, just a little upset."

You let out a low whistle. "Wow, that's a way to go out with a bang," you commented, staring at the webcam.

"Ouch!" Kurt yelped from the kitchen. You whipped around to see him clutching his hand and you cursed before leaping out of your seat, ignoring Rachel protests.

You sat him down next to Rachel when you had fixed his hand (thankfully, the cut wasn't deep) and continued talking to Tina.

"Did she say anything about her plans for after graduation?" You asked, genuinely curious.

"She got into college," Tina said, "Juilliard, I think."

Your jaw dropped. You weren't shocked that she got into Juilliard. You were shocked that she hadn't told you. You were supposed to be there with her to hold her hand tightly with anticipation as she slit open the envelope with her free hand. Then when she stammered, 'I got in,' you would squeak with excitement and tackle her in a hug (preferably to the floor, if no one was around), and whisper excitedly in her ear. How proud of her you were, that you knew she could do it, and she was a genius.

Instead, it would have been Sam doing all of those things. Him telling her that he loved her and being on top of her made your throat constrict. You pushed the thought from your mind.

_'Calm down, they've broken up,' _you chastised yourself.

Rachel pulled you from your thoughts. "You looked so cute in that tie at the wedding, Finn," she slurred sleepily. You half-suspected that she was sleep talking. You rolled your eyes in annoyance and sat up straight, trying not to disturb Kurt. He was curled up in his space of the sofa like a cat, but you knew he was awake because you could see the light from the webcam lighting up his blue eyes from what you could see in the laptop screen. Rachel was passed out against your side, clinging to your T-shirt like it was a lifeline.

You sighed. You could let her sleep on the sofa, but she would wake up in the morning with a bad back and would be even more annoying with the inevitable hangover. On the other hand, you couldn't carry her to her bed. You could try, though. Sue's vigorous exercise routines must have added something to your body strength.

You chose the latter option. You staggered as you supported her curled up form and stumbled multiple times on your way to her bedroom. You had to stop several times in order to get a better grip on her. You could have dropped her, but you weren't _quite_ as malicious as you were in high school and she would groan even more and shoot you dirty looks for the next three years whenever she saw you.

You dropped her onto her bed with a soft thump. You smiled at her faintly because she reminded you a little of _her._ You went through to the kitchen, pulled out her star glass, filled it with water, and then put it on her bedside cabinet. You went into the bathroom, popped an aspirin out of its packet, and placed it next to the glass on her bedside cabinet. You scribbled a note that said, _'happy hangover, your majesty' _and stuck it on the glass before leaving her room and softly shutting the door.

Kurt had sat up on the sofa and was sleepily talking to Tina, who you had kept on Skype without realising it. You sat next to him, and he immediately shifted to rest his head in your lap. You smiled down at him. Normally, this would have been weird, because he was a guy, but this was Kurt, so you didn't mind. He was like the younger brother you had always longed for. He was sweet, cute, and you sometimes still pictured that baby-faced sophomore you met almost four years ago. You stroked his chestnut hair softly as he dozed, listening to Tina talk and occasionally adding some input.

When Tina got tired and ended the chat, you sat there with Kurt for a long time, routinely stroking his hair in your half-asleep state.

He mumbled, "That feels nice, Santana."

You smiled, but said nothing.

He continued, "You still miss her, don't you?"

He was staring at you through his half-closed eyes in the reflection of the blank laptop screen, and you nodded sleepily.

"You helped Rachel with Brody and Finn, me with Adam, and neither of us has stopped for a minute to help you with Brittany," he said softly.

You sighed in response.

"I'm going to help you and Britt sort everything out," he said in a voice that was surprisingly firm for his sleepy, drunken state. "Even if it's the last thing I do. I'm going to be there when you two girls get married, and I'm going to embarrass you with a wedding speech about how hopelessly in love you are then and now and all of the stupid things you did for her and the rest of us."

You felt your face getting hot. "Will the thing with me catching Sebastian on tape feature in that speech, Kurt?" You asked, partly to humour him and partly because you were wondering if he was serious or not. Then again, this was Kurt Hummel, and he was always serious, even in an only half-conscious state.

"Yep," he assured you.

You stretched your legs out to rest on the coffee table and you wriggled down so his head was on your shoulder because your back was hurting from sitting up so long. "Okay, Kurt," you said. "But at your wedding I get to embarrass you with how you looked like a baby who'd gotten on the wrong bus and gone to the wrong school in high school. I've got pictures to prove it."

"And Rachel will embarrass both of us with stories of how pathetic and hopelessly romantic we both are," Kurt added.

"We can just not invite her," you offered.

"You know Rachel. She'd find out the venue from someone and gate-crash the whole thing with an impromptu, sickly-sweet, treacly ballad that will make everyone in the room want to curl up in a corner in embarrassment," Kurt yawned.

"Probably," you agreed.

* * *

**Well, this has been an eventful week. Monday: Cory checks into rehab. Tuesday: Dianna dyes her hair. Wednesday: Heather is apparently pregnant. **

**I don't even know what to expect anymore. **

**I figured I'd do my bit to try to cheer up my followers. :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**And this is the last instalment in this very brief story. I haven't beta'd, just because I'm running late with this update (I had previously scheduled yesterday but my laptop played up). Any obvious typos, just PM me or let me know through a review. I'm still not entirely happy with the ending, and I might re-write it at a later date.**

* * *

You were running late for a coffee with Kurt after he got out of work on Sunday. Isabelle had unexpectedly called him in and, since his hangover wasn't too bad, he went into the office. He texted you about an hour ago to tell you to meet up for coffee in the café opposite the Vogue building while he was on his lunch break.

The subway train rattled along at a frustratingly slow pace. The man next to you was very obviously checking you out, despite the wedding ring on his finger and the woman holding his hand. You crossed your legs and leant back in your chair, allowing your eyes to look over the signs you had scanned a thousand times over already.

You pulled your hat down over your ears and wrapped your scarf tighter around your neck. You ducked your head against the horrendous weather and jogged up the steps out of the subway.

You weren't looking where you were going.

You slammed into somebody who was heading in the opposite direction to you.

You sat down hard, disoriented.

You scrambled to your feet and apologised profusely to whomever you had knocked over into the snow. "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry," you stammered. They had stood and were brushing off their jeans, paying you no attention. They glanced up at the sound of your voice briefly, but looked down quickly before walking quickly off.

You caught a flash of blonde hair tucked underneath a hat that you recognised all too well.

It was worth a shot, you decided.

"Brittany!" you called out to the blonde's retreating form.

They started and whipped around to look at you, wide-eyed at being called out by a random stranger in the middle of New York when they were clearly trying to get somewhere in a hurry.

But, yes, it was definitely her. Blonde hair tucked into an animal hat with flaps to cover her ears that had pom-poms dangling from them, bright blue eyes, a spray of freckles, pale skin, and the most gorgeous face to ever exist on a human being. Her expression was confused, like she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. But she was smiling, the widest smile you'd ever seen grace her features.

You hadn't seen her in months. You thought you'd moved on with your life. New York was the perfect place for you, but your dreams had been built with her in mind, whether you knew it or not. So, really, it was inevitable that you would see her again in New York. Suddenly, the cold winter seemed much more appealing because you got to share at least a moment of it with her.

She jogged up the steps to where you stood and tackled you in a hug that crushed you. "Santana," she mumbled into your hat. "I missed you."

You smiled into her coat. "I missed you too, Britt," you murmured. You wanted to kiss her so much, but you stopped yourself when she released you.

"So, what are you doing in New York?" you asked, although you had a fairly good idea, because you just wanted to see the proud smile on her face.

The proud smile lit up her features and she said happily, "I got into Juilliard."

You grinned happily and then pulled her into another hug.

She mumbled, "So I suppose this is your way of saying you're proud of me."

You released her and looked directly into her eyes. "More than anything," you said sincerely.

She smiled. Her eyes fell to your attire and she smirked. "Closeted Harry Potter fan, huh?"

You shrugged. "Live while you've got the chance."

She smiled again. "Where are you headed?"

"Coffee with Kurt," you said. "What about you?"

She flashed you another bright smile. "Wherever you're going."

Your heart melted a little bit. You smiled happily and took her hand to spin her around and continue walking in the direction that you were going in.

An awkward silence fell over you and you realised you hadn't let go of her hand yet. You slipped your gloved hands into the pockets of your coat, turning your phone around in one of your hands. You felt it vibrate beneath your fingers and you slipped it out of your pocket to see you had a message from Kurt.

'_You're late,' _it read.

'_I know… I ran into someone at the subway. Literally. She's coming too, by the way.' _You replied.

'_Is it Brittany?' _

_'No, it's Barbra Streisand.' _

_'Really?' _

_'No! Yes, it's Brittany!'_

"Talking about me, are we?" she teased. You smirked at her in response, getting the reference.

"Using the 'are we', are we?" you shot back.

By the time you reached Kurt and the café, you had lost count of how many 'are we's' had been said. You decided to give in and let her have the victory, although she was being very smug about it and kept nudging you playfully in the shoulder to express her smugness about her victory to irritate you. You didn't really have the heart to be mad at her, though, not really. You settled for not talking to her, although you thought she knew you weren't really upset or angry.

You ordered coffee and she ordered tea, because she could never stomach the strong taste of coffee. You insisted on paying, teasing her by saying that it was your forfeit. The baristas wrote your names on the cup, and you blushed when you saw that the cups had been angled so that 'Santana' and 'Brittany' read 'Brittana'. The barista winked at you knowingly.

You sat down opposite Kurt, and she sat next to you. Kurt grinned wickedly at you and you glared at him as if to say, _you dare. _

She noticed the look you gave him. She rubbed her hands together to warm them up and asked, "What have I missed?"

Kurt smirked. "Well, Santana scared us all by announcing that she was moving in–"

"– If you're just going to humiliate me, Kurt, you can shut your trap now," you interrupted.

"– and she got Rachel drunk a few weeks ago; it was hilarious," Kurt continued, ignoring your protests.

"Oh,_ God,"_ you groaned, hiding your face in your hands.

Kurt continued to ramble on, and you tuned out. She was laughing at whatever Kurt was saying, but she slipped her hand around yours and squeezed it under the table. You caught her eye out of the corner of yours and she smiled softly at you. You returned the smile weakly and sat up straighter, squeezing her hand back reassuringly.

* * *

Kurt had given you a crumpled piece of paper with an address on it before he went back to work, shooting you a wink.

You were at that address now, staring blankly at the space in front of you.

"I love ice skating!" she squealed happily, tugging on your hand impatiently. "Come on, Santana!"

"Britt," you whined.

She pouted at you, looking at you pleadingly. You groaned and pinched her lips together. "No pouting," you warned her. She smiled smugly in satisfaction at her victory and tugged you over to the shed where the ice skates were handed out.

Less than five minutes later, she was skating around like a swan swam on water. You were clinging to the barrier, wobbling even with the added support. She smiled at you sweetly when she spotted you and skated over to you with a sway of her hips that was nothing but deliberate. Your mouth ran dry. She put her hands over yours, looking you in the eye with a gentle, encouraging smile on her face.

"Come on, S, I'll help you," she said quietly.

You trusted her, because she was always there to help pick you up when you fell down. Really, now was no exception. So you turned your hands over and allowed her to grasp them firmly. She pulled you gently away from the barrier, and you wobbled unsteadily before she stepped forward and wrapped and arm around you. You smiled at her weakly, a little embarrassed at you lack of balance, but she beamed at you as if your awful co-ordination was not a problem. Your dad used to tease you by saying it was because you were left-handed.

"C'mon, you're fine," she giggled when you clung tighter to her waist, smiling in spite of yourself. "Keep your feet pointing in that V shape."

Despite her best efforts, you slipped a little and landed on your knees. She was trying not to laugh as you glared at her and stood up, massaging your injured knees. She opened her mouth to say something, but you glowered at her and pinched her lips together.

"Not a word, Pierce," you warned. She strained to open her mouth and you released her lips, letting your index finger linger there for a few more seconds than was appropriate. She smiled innocently and kissed it, and you recoiled out of shock. She looked hurt, but you screwed your eyes shut and mumbled, "C'mon, Britt, let's try again."

_'Wanky,' _you added mentally.

"Wanky," she smirked. You smiled in spite of yourself.

You decided you'd be adventurous and skated off. You made it about two meters before your foot so the side of the skate was touching the ice and you lost your balance and toppled over. You heard her laughing as she skated over and you sat up, cheeks flushed red. She took pity on you and helped you up. You took firm hold of her arm and allowed her to lead you.

"Should I get one of those little penguin things for you to hold onto so you don't slip?" she teased.

You groaned and buried your face in the material of her coat. "Shut up."

You had an idea, and a wicked grin spread over your features. But it was promptly ruined when she slipped over and promptly pulled you down with her.

You were laughing, partly because you felt bad for her, and embarrassing her was just too easy because her cheeks were as red as the setting sun. You weren't in the middle of the rink, thank God, so you didn't hurry to scramble to your feet. You had initially fallen with your cheek pressed against her shoulder, but you sat up when she made to move.

She had stood up, so you joined her, and she had hidden her face behind one of her hands, but you could tell that she was laughing.

"Very graceful, Miss Juilliard Dancer," you teased.

Without looking at you, she said, "at least I fell once, rather than five times."

"It was only twice!" you defended. "And you're supposed to be my instructor; you're not allowed to slip."

"My apologies," she shot back, glaring at you.

"I was joking, Britt," you assured her. She rolled her eyes, and didn't look convinced. You stood on your tiptoes and kissed the tip of her nose, delighting in the colour that her cheeks turned. Her mouth twitched into a smile, and you knew you were forgiven.

"Should we go?" she suggested. "It's getting late and I'm kind of cold."

"Yeah, sure," you agreed easily. Although, you knew that you would miss her later and regret not spending more time with her. You both exited the rink and sat down on one of the benches to untie your skates. "I think a subway train leaves for Bushwick in about ten minutes."

Her face fell. "Santana, you can't go back to your apartment now. It's nearly dark and Bushwick can be dangerous."

"I'll be fine, Britt," you assured her.

"Well, I'm staying in a hotel for now," she said. "My roommate in college is awful and kicked me out for the holidays so she and her boyfriend could have some 'alone time'," she explained, making the air quotes with her fingers and clear in her tone. "They're probably going to stay fully dressed and just read M-rated fanfiction because they both want to wait until marriage but they claim they both have needs."

"I'll go all Lima Heights on that bitch, Britt," you growled threateningly.

She shrugged. "It's fine, I'm not bothered."

"I am."

"Calm down," she told you soothingly, wrapping an arm around you. "Give me your skates and put your shoes on. Text Kurt to let him know where you are. I'm going to give the skates back to the guy over there."

It was that strange effect that only she had on you. She could calm you down with the simplest touch and a few soothing words.

She left, and you did as she asked. You texted Kurt, _'I'm with Britt; don't bother saving any food for me.' _

He replied, _'Are you spending the night with her, then?'_

You smirked and typed out, _'It seems so.' _

You laughed at his reply. _'Santana Lopez, I am scandalized! Where are u?' _

_'Still at the ice rink. This is why she isn't letting me come home tonight.' _You replied.

_'That's sweet of her. Adam's here, anyway. Rachel's with Finn. We're having a night in, I guess. Have fun ;)' _

_'Stay out of my room, Hummel.' _

"You texted Kurt?" she asked, returning. You jumped and slipped your phone away, nodding. She looked at you suspiciously, but shrugged and helped you to your feet. You left the ice rink.

"Where now?" you asked.

She thought about it. "Hot chocolate?" she suggested. You nodded. It _did _sound good.

She insisted on paying. You sat together in the diner, a companionable silence settling over you as you sipped your drink and allowed the warm liquid to warm your numb hands.

You cleared your throat. "Are you dating anyone?"

She shook her head. "No, are you?"

"No. like they say, there's nothing better than being single in New York City," you joked feebly.

She was quiet for a while, staring down at her cup and stirring the hot liquid with a spoon. "Who said that?" she asked blankly.

You shrugged. "Kurt's boss."

She nodded. "Well, would being taken with the person you're in love with be considered better?" she asked slyly.

Your mouth ran dry. You nodded, trying to smirk confidently at her. And failing miserably.

_'You are so screwed, Lopez,' _you thought.

She drained her cup, and you realised you only had a mouthful of liquid left in yours. You drained your own cup and smiled at her. She looked content, slightly sleepy, as she always was when she had hot chocolate because it made her sleepy.

"So, um, should we get to wherever we're going before it gets late?" you asked shyly, trying desperately not to picture the kinds of things you and her would be doing a year ago if this opportunity arose.

She smiled and nodded. She slipped her hand into yours and stood, gently pulling her with you. You followed her, gripping her hand as to not lose her, as she navigated the streets as though she had lived there her entire life. You felt safe, protected. The dark-haired guy with green eyes who smiled at you with his arm wrapped around a blonde girl with grey eyes was only being friendly, and the smile that same girl gave you was because she knew _exactly_ what was going on, even if the dark-haired guy didn't.

She didn't say anything to you on the way to her room, although you supposed that might partly be because it would be difficult to make conversation on the crowded streets. Even at night in New York, it was always crowded.

One you were inside her hotel room, she went to a set of drawers and tossed you some clothes. She winked at you before rummaging through the drawers again and bringing out some more clothes before wandering into the bathroom. You changed hastily, not taking off your underwear because you were worried about what _you _might be tempted to do if you cuddled, your bare skin against hers through her pyjamas.

"So, movie?" she suggested when she came back into the room, dressed in the penguin pyjamas you had gotten her for Christmas a few years ago.

"Yeah, sure," you agreed. "Anything but Twilight; I've seen enough of Kristin Stewart's sour face in the past month to last me a lifetime."

"You had a crush on Kellan Lutz a few years ago," she recalled as she rutted through a box of DVDs in the corner. You tried to keep your eyes off her exposed skin as she crouched down.

"I got over it," you shrugged.

"Yeah, you did," she agreed. "I'd be kind of worried if you were picturing him when we made out."

You smirked. "I wasn't," you said. "Although I could be lying."

"You're not," she said simply, inserting a disk into the DVD player in the corner of the room and coming to sit next to you. "I could tell if you were."

* * *

She was lying across the sofa and her shins were across your lap. You were massaging them gently, watching her as she focused on the TV. You watched how her nose scrunched up when she laughed, or how the glow from the screen made her eyes sparkle.

* * *

She leaned across the sofa to fasten her arms around your waist. You let out a squeak of surprise as she pulled you into her lap. You rested your head on her shoulder, smiling when she tilted her head to rest on top of yours. That smile only grew when she pressed a soft kiss into your hair and pulled you closer. You tilted your head to side and strained your neck to press a kiss to her jaw.

It had been almost six months.

Even so, nothing had changed since you were eighteen and hopelessly and irrevocably in love.

"I love you," you blurted out.

You felt her smile into your hair. "I love you too."

* * *

**And that's it. It's been amazing, and I thank everyone who followed or favourited.**

**Thanks for reading :)**


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